- Music
- 09 Jun 20
Take a look at the new Forrest Gump-inspired music video from Janet Devlin below.
Following the release of her highly anticipated new concept album, Confessional, last week, Janet Devlin is back with a music video for the project's final single, 'Big Wide World'.
The album, which debuted at No.1 on both the UK and Irish iTunes Singer-Songwriter charts, coincided with the release of My Confession – Janet's soul-baring book about her struggles with identity and alcoholism.
The music video for 'Big Wide World' was born from a concept devised by Janet: a joyful homage to the famous running sequence in Forrest Gump.
“When I was in rehab, I re-watched this particular film numerous times," she explains. "There was something about this scene that spoke to me. I felt the urge to run – not away from something… but towards something. Now with the world having been cooped up for so long I wanted to take this song for a run in the great outdoors – stretch its legs. At my lowest points, running was always the best way to keep my mental health in check; it was a great way to connect with the world.”
The video was directed by Katie Ganfield – using creative social distancing techniques, and featuring heart-warming snippets submitted by fans around the world.
As well as Janet's signature ukulele, the feel-good track features bodhrán and percussion from Irish musician Brian Fleming.
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The track began life in 2018, when Janet was standing above the world at the Rockefeller Centre, New York. After a decade-long battle with several self-destructive demons, as described in My Confessional, the singer had an exhilarating revelation while looking out over the metropolis, that would come to define her future: she was finally free of her troubled past.
“I bathed in euphoria for the first time in forever,” she says of the moment.“If I could live within a memory, this moment would be my home. All I could see in front of me was a big wide world. And that's when the song’s title and melody popped into my head. It became my attempt at bottling sunshine and pure happiness.”
Take a look at the video for 'Big Wide World' below, and discover Janet's music here.
Revisit our recent interview with Janet Devlin here, and our review of Confessional here.